


Armiger

by Choke-a-Bro (Vanya_Deyja)



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Bad Ideas, M/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22555852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanya_Deyja/pseuds/Choke-a-Bro
Summary: Ardyn is sure, on some level, this is a bad idea but he can't run the risk his dumb blonde will run out of bullets.
Relationships: Verstael Besithia/Ardyn Izunia
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63





	Armiger

Ardyn is rarely bothered by daemons but they don’t seem to appreciate Verstael, likewise, is friend and not food. So he’s annoyed but not surprised when he discovers daemons besieging their current Niff encampment in the snow.

Most of the crew are glad to see Ardyn. When the daemons descended on mass they had the good sense to barricade themselves inside the armoured truck and let the MTs hold off the horde as long as possible. Most of the MTs are dead now but the daemons couldn’t figure out how to get into the truck and luckily didn’t flip it either. So both Verstael’s samples and his crew are mostly safe. Ardyn is quite impressed by the team’s quick thinking but after a head count—

“Where’s Besithia?” He frowns.

“Some of the unit were driven west when they came,” an assistant tells him. “I think Boss must’ve been with them.”

“I’ll follow the sounds of gunfire then.” Ardyn snorts heading off quickly. It won’t do any good to let his myriad darlings eat his human sweetheart after all.

Ardyn finds the trail quickly enough. He knows how Verstael thinks and, more importantly, he knows how beasts hunt. He finds a few dead daemons but no shortage of equally dead Niffs either. He only becomes concerned when he doesn’t hear periodic gunfire.

He moves a little quicker.

He finds two daemons trying, frantically, to get into the root system of a gnarled old tree. They’re too big to force their way in and the tree is too stern to give under their pressure. That said it would be a nice space for a little human to tuck himself.

Ardyn dispatches them quickly and yanking the heaving, spluttering, corpse of the big one off the root system he sticks himself into the gap.

Verstael comes out coughing up dirt. Ardyn takes his outstretched hand and helps him onto better footing. Trust Verstael to be the last man left alive. He’s wicked clever like that but Ardyn is nonetheless concerned.

“Normally I find you on top of daemons, not cornered by them.” He remarks.

“Oh fuck off, I ran out of bullets,” Verstael hacks, spitting up another mouthful of dirt onto the snow.

“You ran out?” Ardyn blinks.

“Yeah, genius,” Verstael snaps irritably, “excuse me if I don’t keep an arsenal on my person at all times.”

It hadn’t occurred to Ardyn before but that does happen. Swords don’t need reloading but guns certainly do. What if Ardyn had been waylaid? What then? He frowns. This is simply unacceptable.

“We need to make sure you never run out of bullets again.” He decides. He knows Verstael is fully capable of dispatching monsters so long as he has the right equipment but without it he’s just a wee irritable human.

“Yeah, well,” Verstael finally settles his breathing, “when you figure out how to magic up bullets let me know.”

Ardyn frowns. This will require some thought.

“Come on,” Verstael grabs the tail end of the scarf around his neck. “Let’s see how the rest of the crew fared.”

“Better than you.” Ardyn snorts, letting himself be tugged.

“Thank you, by the way.” Verstael glances back, just gently. “It’s nice not to be dead, I will admit.”

Ardyn grunts, nods, but he’s still thinking.

* * *

Ardyn is still thinking when Verstael comes to their tent to sleep in another hour. He doesn’t kick off his boots, it’s too cold for that, he just throws himself down on the pile of sleeping bags they’ve corralled into a nest and throws and arm over his face.

“Turn that light off,” Verstael murmurs tiredly.

“I’m thinking—”

“You don’t have to stop,” Verstael grunts, “but I’m exhausted and you don’t need the light.”

“No, I mean…” Ardyn pivots in his seat. “I think I have a plan to keep you from running out of bullets.”

Verstael peaks at him from under his arm. “Oh?”

“Come here,” Ardyn beckons, shuffling a little closer himself.

Verstael sits up and edges nearer.

Ardyn takes his hand.

“There’s a Lucian trick,” Ardyn prefaces, “I’ve never tried it personally but I don’t see why it shouldn’t work.”

“Alright, so what do we do…?” Verstael takes his hand firmly.

“We need to form a covenant.” Ardyn supposes. He’s not exactly sure how they do this in Lucis but if those usurpers can do this then surely—

“Like a vow?” Verstael grunts.

“Yes,” Ardyn nods. “I’m not sure—Would you vow your allegiance to me as your true King?”

“Going to have to pass on that one,” Verstael snorts. “As if I’d conceded full authority to you in anything. We’re partners, remember?”

“True…” Ardyn concedes, not really married to the idea anyway. He doesn’t need Verstael to bow down. He doesn’t even really want that. He wants— “That might work actually; do you vow to fight by my side forever?”

“Absolutely,” Verstael swears comfortably, nonchalantly certain.

Ardyn feels—

It’s _something_ , like a tingle. It runs down his arm and—

“Hold on,” Ardyn releases Verstael’s hand and grabs a handgun from part of their equipment nearby. “I need you to hold this.”

“Okay…?” Verstael snorts patiently, taking the gun.

“Now put it down but don’t actually let it go.”

“ _Excuse me?_ ” Verstael cocks up one brow.

“Magic is hard to explain without sounding crazy.” Ardyn sighs. “Niffs don’t have the right words for it. Just— Let it go without actually letting it go. It’s all in the wrist.”

“Uh…” Verstael fumbles for a moment. Once, twice— “Holy shit.” He hisses as the gun tingles out of the air. “What the fuck was--?”

“Now do the same thing,” Ardyn encourages, “think of it. Pick it up without actually—yes! Like that!”

Verstael summons the gun back into his hands with a flick of the wrist, awed and evidently delighted.

“How…?” Verstael laughs.

“In Lucis the pretender kings give their Kingsglaive access to their magic with covenants. Some can warp, all sorts of nonsense. They all also have their own armigers through those covenants.”

“So I’m tapped into your magic and now I’ve got a magic pocket?” Verstael concludes, curiosity piqued.

“Basically,” Ardyn shrugs. It’s always better to put things in words Verstael can make sense of when it comes to magic. Ardyn knows its more complicated than that but it would be difficult to explain when its so foreign to his human.

“How much can I put in this thing?” Verstael ponders.

“Not sure.” Ardyn admits. “But at least a few weapons and certainly ammunition.”

“I’ll have to test it.” Verstael nods. “That’s… that’ll come in handy.”

“Doesn’t show up on a metal detector either,” Ardyn nods knowingly. “So if perhaps you are in a venue which has previously asked you to surrender your weapons…”

“Then I’ve still got this.” Verstael concludes. “Good idea.”

Ardyn is quietly satisfied watching Verstael dismiss and retrieve his handgun with a flick of the wrist. He likes to think he’s fairly ruthless but he has exceptions and nothing, nothing at all, can happen to Verstael if Ardyn is to remain sane enough to succeed with his plan.

He needs this blonde savage.


End file.
